2015 Chinese Grand Prix
|poletime = 1:35.782 |fastestlap = 1:42.208 |fastestlapdriver = Lewis Hamilton |fastestlapnation = GBR |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 31 |winner = Lewis Hamilton |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Nico Rosberg |secondnation = GER |secondteam = |third = Sebastian Vettel |thirdnation = GER |thirdteam = }} The 2015 Chinese Grand Prix (formally the 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix) was the third race of the 2015 Formula One season. The race was the 12th Chinese Grand Prix, with all of them being held at the Shanghai International Circuit. After setting the fastest time in all of the free practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton took the pole for the race, assisting in locking out the front row of the grid. Hamilton led from the start, leading all of the laps, with the exception of those on which he pitted. The race ended behind the safety car after the engine in Max Verstappen's car blew up on the front straight. __TOC__ Background Soft "option" and medium "prime" tyres were used for the Grand Prix. The race started one hour earlier than in 2014, following the results of recommendations for Jules Bianchi's crash in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Jolyon Palmer, son of Jonathan Palmer, made his free practice début, for , at the race. Entry list Practice Overview FP1 Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first practice session, setting a time of 1:39.033, about half a second ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. Mercedes' close challenger Ferrari had Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen set the third and fourth fastest times respectively. Felipe Nasr did well for Sauber by setting the fifth fastest time, while his teammate Marcus Ericsson was fourteenth ahead of Lotus' test driver Jolyon Palmer, who was fifteenth despite having a spin near the start of the session, which Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Pastor Maldonado, Ericsson, Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Max Verstappen all had lurid lock-ups and a few off-track moments. Maldonado was eleventh ahead of Verstappen, and the other Toro Rosso driver Sainz finished in eighth. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth fastest in front of teammate Daniil Kvyat, and Valtteri Bottas was ninth, being just 0.001 seconds ahead of Felipe Massa, who also had a spin after going too deep at Turn 14. Jenson Button was close to the top ten for McLaren with the thirteenth fastest time, but Fernando Alonso was seventeenth between Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg respectively. Overcoming his mechanical problems from Malaysia, Will Stevens was nineteenth fastest, while teammate Roberto Merhi was in last place outside the 107% mark. FP2 Hamilton was again fastest in the second practice session, with a time of 1:37.219, but Rosberg was down to fifth after going off at the final turn on his hot lap. Räikkönen was second fastest, while Vettel set the fourth fastest time, stating that he had to back off from behind Hamilton when he made "several mistakes". Ricciardo finally got into the top 3 with the third fastest time, while his teammate Kvyat was sixth after crashing at Turn 14 due to problems with his brakes. He made it back to the pits, but during a routine pit stop, his left rear brakes set on fire, and his session was over after his front wing was damaged. He was followed by Bottas, whose teammate Massa was seventeenth after having an incident at the same corner as Kvyat earlier in the session, getting sideways following his rear wing stalling while braking, and had his left front endplate come off after his front wing touched the wall, bringing the red flags out after 51 minutes. Despite not being as fast as in the first practice session, Nasr was to get into the top ten with eighth. Romain Grosjean, who was taken over by Palmer in the first session, followed with the ninth fastest time. After Ron Dennis informed observers that they will "be surprised", Button was impressively tenth, while Alonso was twelfth fastest. Maldonado was sandwiched by the two drivers. Ericsson was a bit faster, being thirteenth. Verstappen and Sainz followed him with the fourteenth and fifteenth fastest times respectively. Hülkenberg did not do so well, after suffering rising gearbox oil pressure, leaving him sixteenth, while Pérez was eighteenth with brake problems. Merhi was nineteenth, with his teammate Stevens last due to a problem with his power unit. There was a shocking moment in the session, when a man ran across the start/finish straight into the pits while several drivers were driving along, before he was arrested by the police. He was said to have wanted to take a drive in one of Ferrari's cars, and went to their garage, but was stopped by a few mechanics before he could enter. FP3 Following the second practice session, Rosberg managed to get ahead of Räikkönen, Ricciardo and Vettel, but his time was not enough to beat Hamilton's time of 1:37.615. Behind them both was Vettel, followed by his teammate Räikkönen. Ricciardo and Kvyat were fifth and sixth fastest respectively. Sainz set the seventh fastest time, followed by Bottas, ending the consecutive matchup of drivers in the same team. Toro Rosso's other driver Verstappen was ninth fastest in his rookie year, and Grosjean completed the top ten. Massa could not improve more than eleventh while using the same front wing from Friday that got damaged in the second session, with Hülkenberg joining him in twelfth. Ericsson set a time that was faster than teammate Nasr, and were followed by Button, whose teammate Alonso could not set a time when an engine problem stopped his car during his outlap. Maldonado joined Button in sixteenth place, being followed by the other Force India driver Pérez. With no technical problems, Stevens was eighteenth fastest ahead of Merhi. Practice Results Qualifying Q1 Vettel set the fastest time of Q1, ahead of Räikkönen. Hamilton could only manage fifth, while Rosberg was eighth. Hülkenberg, Button, Alonso, Stevens and Merhi were all eliminated at the end, with the latter two being able to get within the 107% time. Q2 Unable to beat their times in Q1, Hamilton was able to get ahead of the Ferrari drivers with the fastest time of Q2, followed by Rosberg. The drivers knocked out at the end were Maldonado, Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz and Pérez. Q3 Hamilton took pole position in Q3, ahead of Rosberg, who complained after hearing that he was just 0.042 seconds behind, "Oh, come on, guys." Vettel qualified third, and Massa and Bottas separated him from Räikkönen. Ricciardo followed them ahead of Grosjean. Nasr was ninth after having a broken front wing flap which decreased his downforce and made him lose about two-tenths of a second, and was followed by his teammate Ericsson. Qualifying Results Grid Race Report As the race started, Räikkönen was able to get past both Williams drivers on the first lap to get into fourth place. Sainz later went wide and spun, having to continue in nineteenth place. Hülkenberg had to retire on lap 10 after having a problem with his gearbox. A few of the drivers, including Vettel, came for their pit stops on lap 13, but there was no chance for him to get ahead of the Mercedes drivers, as Hamilton came in on lap 14, and Rosberg took his first pit stop on lap 15, which they both came out ahead of Vettel. Later, Kvyat had to retire when his engine failed on lap 17. Hamilton was still leading Rosberg on lap 20, but Rosberg started complaining to the team that Hamilton was driving slowly, and later saying that he would damage his tyres if he got right behind Hamilton. As a response, the team told Hamilton to pick up the pace. When he came in for his second pit stop on lap 33, Maldonado ran too deep, but was able to keep going. However, a few laps later, he had a spin, which did not stop him from retiring. Things went worse for him when Button ran into the back of his car at the end of the start/finish straight on lap 49. Button was able to continue, but Maldonado was forced to retire. By lap 54, Rosberg was 10.06 seconds behind Hamilton, and 12.12 seconds ahead of Vettel, whose tyres were four laps older than the tyres of Räikkönen, who was 1.37 seconds behind on lap 54. The safety car came out after Verstappen's car stopped on the start/finish straight due to engine failure. Mechanics struggled to get the car through a gap in the track barrier, eventually taking off the front wing themselves. The safety car came in at the end of the final lap, and Hamilton won the race ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. Post-race Talking to Edwin Moses during the podium interview, Hamilton explained that the team did "a fantastic job", as well as saying that having the safety car out at a late time is "kind of an anti-climax when you have a good race like that." However, he was accused by his teammate Rosberg during the press conference for what he thought was slowing down during the race. Hamilton explained that "I wasn't controlling his Nico's race, I was controlling my own race." Rosberg then replied: "It's just now interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace in front, and necessarily that was compromising my race." Niki Lauda responded: "Sure, everyone drives selfish. ... What do you think these guys are here to do? I call them egocentric b******s. That is the only way to win and the only way to win the Championship, they are all the same." Button was given a five-second time penalty and two penalty points for his collision with Maldonado, and Merhi was given the same for not keeping above the needed lap time under the safety car. Meanwhile, Hamilton was criticised by Roz Hardie, the chief executive of Object, for spraying champagne in a hostess' face. However, the hostess, who was named Liu Siying, defended Hamilton when she said: "It lasted for only one or two seconds, and I did not think too much about it at all. I think some foreign media are more sensitive about the topic compared to local media. I was just told by my employer to stand on the podium, and that's what I did." Hamilton later explained: "This is Formula One, it's the pinnacle of motor sport and I'd just won a grand prix for the team. You should see it was a kind of a fun thing. I would never, ever intend to disrespect or try to embarrass someone like that." He also explained, as shown on his BBC Sport column, "I certainly did not see it that way at the time - most people laugh if we spray them on the podium - and I was pleased to hear that the lady in question was not upset, either." Results Notes: * * Jenson Button finished 13th, but had 5 seconds added to his race time for causing a collision with Pastor Maldonado. * ^ Roberto Merhi had 5 seconds added to his race time for failing to stay above the required time during the safety car period. Fastest laps Laps in the lead Stints Totals Milestones *35th career victory for Lewis Hamilton Standings after race Notes External links Category:Grand Prix articles Category:Chinese Grand Prix Category:2015 Grands Prix